The Second Amendment Foundation and National Rifle Association have filed a lawsuit in federal court challenging gun control Initiative 1639 in Washington State, on several grounds. The lawsuit was filed in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington. In addition to SAF and NRA, plaintiffs include gun dealers and young adults in the affected age group.

The lawsuit challenges the measure on the grounds that it violates the commerce clause by banning sales of rifles to non-residents, and that it unconstitutionally impairs the rights guaranteed by the First, Second and Fourteenth Amendments, and Article I Section 24 of the Washington State constitution by preventing the sale to otherwise qualified adults under age 21 of certain rifles.

“We are also considering additional legal challenges,” SAF Executive Vice President Alan Gottlieb confirmed. “We are disappointed that too many Evergreen State voters were fooled into supporting this 30-page gun control scheme, despite overwhelming law enforcement opposition. This initiative is an affront to the constitutional rights enshrined in the Second Amendment and the Washington state constitution[.]”

“We’re determined to fight this egregious measure because constitutionally-protected rights should never be subject to a popularity vote,” he stated. “The wealthy elitists behind I-1639 want to turn a right into a regulated privilege. This measure was only designed to have a chilling effect on the exercise of a constitutional right by honest citizens while having no impact at all on criminals, and we cannot let it go unchallenged.”

I-1639, over 30 pages in length, is far-reaching. This measure basically defines virtually ALL self-loading long guns as “assault rifles”. This would even include popular .22 LR rimfire rifles such as the Ruger 10/22, Marlin 60, and Remington 597. In addition, I-1639 imposes draconian gun storage requirements, imposes new taxes on gun ownership, creates a state-controlled gun registry, and mandates annual “verification” of gun owners. LEARN MORE HERE.

“The NRA is committed to restoring the Second Amendment rights of every law-abiding Washingtonian,” said Chris W. Cox, executive director of NRA’s Institute for Legislative Action. “I-1639 violates the constitutional rights of law-abiding citizens and puts people at risk. This lawsuit is the first step in the fight to ensure that Washingtonians are free to exercise their fundamental right to self-defense.”

“The NRA will fight to overturn this unconstitutional initiative. We will not sit idly by while elitist anti-gun activists attempt to deny everyday Americans their fundamental right to self-defense,” concluded Cox.

The Second Amendment Foundation (www.saf.org) is the nation’s oldest and largest tax-exempt education, research, publishing and legal action group focusing on the Constitutional right and heritage to privately own and possess firearms. Founded in 1974, The Foundation has grown to more than 650,000 members and supporters and conducts many programs designed to better inform the public about the consequences of gun control.

Today is election day. Make sure you get out and vote. Let your voice be heard. These are challenging times for firearms owners. There are many groups and politicians in this country who want to ban all handguns, ban all semi-automatic rifles, and yes, even repeal the Second Amendment. If you believe in the Constitution, believe in the Second Amendment, it is vital that you get to the polls and cast your vote.

There are many other important issues at stake in this election — control of Congress, infrastructure spending, foreign policy, immigration policy, Federal Lands policies, and that’s just on the national level. State and local elections are important too. So be an involved citizen and exercise your right to vote.

Your Vote Is Your Voice

The NRA Institute for Legislative Action states: “Our Second Amendment rights are being threatened by the anti-gun forces like never before. If you have been following the news, more than likely you have seen the fervor with which our opponents are pushing their agenda.

We need America’s Second Amendment supporters to speak out by using their vote on Election Day to reject this anti-freedom agenda and elect lawmakers to office who support the Second Amendment.”

We all know that ammo prices have dropped and gunmakers are discounting handguns and rifles. But have gun sales really dropped that much since the 2016 Presidential election? Actually not. Recently released data from the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) show that gun sales remain at near-record levels.

The expected drop in firearms sales has been minimal. Sales are at historically high levels, only a little less than the records set in 2016. If the economy continues to pick up, 2017 will be the second highest year on record for NICS background checks. — Dean Weingarten

According to Dean Weigarten: “Firearm sales and NICS checks are having a good year. In 2017, the overall NICS checks are at 92% of the all-time record through August.” 2017 will probably surpass 2015 as the second-highest year for NICS checks since 1999, when the program started. (2016 was the highest year ever). And notably, the trend is up: NICS checks were 1,925,146 in August 2017. That beat the August 2016 number of 1,853,815, the previous high mark for the month.

Report by Dean Weingarten
The Trump era of the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) checks has had eight months of high sales. The record for NICS checks was set in 2016, with over 27 million NICS checks for the year. 2015 was the second highest year for NICS checks with over 23 million checks done.

This chart reveals that the annual number of NICS Checks has more than doubled in the last decade!Source: www.FBI.gov

The high number of NICS checks reflects an expanded base of firearms owners and shooters who are buying more guns under the expectation of a prosperous Trump Presidency. Gallup released a poll on September 8th, that shows U.S. investor optimism at a 17-year high….

Now is a Good Time to Buy — Especially AR Platform Rifles
There is a high inventory of firearms for sale, and many good quality AR-15 types can be had for under $500. Ammunition prices have been slowly dropping.

Growth of Concealed Carry by Americans Drives NICS Numbers
The number of people with carry licenses continues to soar. There are over 16.5 million. At the time of this report, the number has likely surpassed 17 million. Carry permit holders are 5-15% of voters in many states [such as] Pennsylvania, Michigan, Ohio, and Wisconsin. When a carry permit is obtained or renewed, another NICS check is done.

NICS checks are done for Federal Firearms License sales of used guns as well as new ones. The latest estimation of the ratio of NICS checks to the addition of private firearms stock is about 0.53 private firearms added for each NICS check done. If that ratio holds in 2017, about 8.6 million more firearms have been added to the private stock in 2017 thus far.

There’s a big online auction set for November 18 and 19, 2015. The well-known Kesselring’s Gun Shop in the Seattle area has closed its doors. Now a large selection of firearms and shooting accessories will be sold to the highest bidders. You’ll find high-quality rifles, shotguns, and handguns up for auction with no minimums and no reserves. There are also 900 lots of optics and 1500 lots of ammunition. On Day One there are 200+ Leupold scopes listed, including the top-of-the-line tactical models. This is a chance to get top-quality guns, scopes, and ammo for very attractive prices. Bidding starts tomorrow. There are two separate Live +_Online Auctions, Day One (Wednesday, November 18th) and Day Two (Thursday, November 19th). Bidding opens at 9:00 am on each day.

Welcome to the wacky world of Municipal Anti-Gun Ordinances. San Francisco and Los Angeles have city-specific magazine bans and gun storage requirements, and now it appears that Seattle may target gun owners with new “sin taxes” on firearms and ammunition.

$25 Per Gun and Five Cents Per Round
The Seattle City Council will soon vote on a new local law that will add a $25.00 surcharge to every new gun purchase. In addition, the proposed Seattle City Ordinance will add a $0.05 (five cent) fee to each and every centerfire round sold in Seattle. Rimfire .22LR rounds will be taxed $0.02 per round.

The stated purpose for the new Gun and Ammo Tax is to raise money to combat crime, according to Seattle City Council President Tim Burgess, author of the Gun Tax ordinance. Burgess told local KING-5 TV reporters that this is essentially a “Sin Tax” on guns and ammo: “We’ve been working on this for several years. Sure, I wish we would have done this 20 years ago, but we know what the problem is. We tax cigarettes and alcohol and even wood-burning stoves for public health purposes. Why not guns and ammunition?”

While supporters of the Gun and Ammo Tax, including Seattle Mayor Ed Murray, claim the new city tax would raise over $300,000 to fight crime, in reality this measure is more about getting rid of guns that it is about making Seattle safe. The National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF) has opposed the Seattle Gun and Ammo Tax, stating: “[This ordinance] will have no effect on decreasing gun violence. It is designed to place a huge burden on legitimate firearms retailers and law-abiding gun owners. Additionally, the proposed ordinance is a gross violation of Washington’s firearms preemption statute.”

Daniel Xu, writing in OutdoorHub.com notes that gun buyers already pay Excise Taxes with each purchase: “However, unlike the [Federal] Pittman-Robertson Excise Tax, which retains funds for conservation and habitat-protection efforts, the funds collected by the ordinance will go entirely back into the city for ‘gun violence research and prevention programs’. City leaders have yet to specify… how the funds will be spent.”

Report by Anette Wachter,30CalGal.com
The ball is rolling to challenge the I-594 bill that passed in Washington state last November. This is perhaps the strictest gun control law out there. Why? Because it is like the Health Care Law. There are too many pages of undefined crap that they said they would figure out after it goes in to law.

Our local Second Amendment Foundation with Alan Gottlieb has filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court in Tacoma, WA. The language in the new law is unclear to even law enforcement and the Washington State Department of Licensing (DOL). Have you gone to DOL’s website about this recently? There is no advice and the site just pushes you to your local law enforcement or the ATF. Local law enforcement officials do not want to enforce this law and do not know how to do so. And the ATF, a federal organization, is unclear [as to the impact of the law] as well.

The law will not be overturned so don’t get your hopes up. But they have to define it. It is so confusing. We need to get the ridiculous parts about transfers undone. So many people and agencies are affected by this unclear language.

I just had dinner last night with Brian Judy of the NRA and Adina Hicks of the Protect Our Gun Rights Washington group. There will be an organized rally in Olympia on January 15th starting at 9:00 am. That’s on a weekday when the Legislature is again in session. Visits to Legislators start at 11:00. I will be there and I will go to the office of my district’s Representative. We need your support! If you are in Washington please join us out there.

Please call your legislator ahead of time and make an appointment to see them after the rally that day. The Washington Firearms Leadership and Activism Group (WAFLAG), Protect Our Gun Rights Washington, and the Gun Rights Coalition will host the event. Both the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep & Bear Arms and the Second Amendment Foundation are sponsoring the event also. Please read more details and the entire article by Dave Workman of TheGunMag.com HERE.

Washington State Ballot Initiative 594, otherwise known as I-594, is bad news. This poorly-written proposed law puts dramatic restrictions on gun owners. I-594 could criminalize many traditional types of shooting activities (including training with shared firearms). I-594 is so sweeping and vague that law enforcement groups consider the initiative “unenforceable”. If you live in Washington State, you need to educate yourself about I-594. In this story, two of our shooter friends (and contributors to the Daily Bulletin) analyze I-594 and explain its flaws.

Kelly Bachand: Why is I-594 bad? I-594 is posing as a background check initiative, but that’s not what it is. I-594 limits the legal modes of recreational use by redefining a firearms transfer to include almost any time that a firearm changes hands, even if it’s just for demonstration purposes, a short-term loan, or a bona fide gift.

Top Shot’s Chris Cheng Reveals the Dark Side of I-594
If you believe in Second Amendment rights, you should watch this video. If you believe in gun rights and live in Washington state, you should make sure your friends, neighbors, and family members of voting age watch this video. Chris Cheng does a great job exposing the flaws of I-594:

Kelly Bachand Analyzes Washington State Initiatives I-594 and I-591
Since I’m a licensed firearms dealer I’ve had to learn a lot about the law concerning firearms. It makes sense then that close friends have asked me about my position on I-594 and I-591 which are on the ballot in Washington. I’ve read the full text for both a few times. How will I vote? I will vote yes on I-591. I will vote no on I-594.

I opened up my voter’s pamphlet last night and I was incredibly surprised to find that in the Explanatory Statement from the WA Office of Attorney General, there is a statement that is simply untrue. It precedes both initiatives in the voter’s pamphlet and it reads “In Washington, a background check is only required to buy a pistol, and only if the seller is a firearms dealer.” That’s simply untrue. Every time I sell ANY firearm a background check is performed, background checks are not just done for handgun sales. Furthermore, handgun sales in WA require a secondary, redundant background check performed by local law enforcement [which is] reported to the WA DOL. S0, there are actually two background checks performed on a typical handgun sale.

Why is I-594 bad? I-594 is posing as a background check initiative, but that’s not what it is. Background checks are not bad, I-594 is bad because it’s not about background checks. If it was a well-written background check initiative that addressed actual issues with mental health and domestic violence documentation then there could actually be many firearms owners who supported it. Unfortunately, the largest impact on firearms that I-594 will have is to limit the legal modes of recreational use that are available to law abiding citizens. The things it purports to stop are already illegal so it won’t bother criminals at all that there is one more law they are breaking. I-594 limits the legal modes of recreational use by redefining a firearms transfer to include almost any time that a firearm changes hands, even if it’s just for demonstration purposes, a short term loan, or a bona fide gift.

Under I-594 I would no longer be able to borrow my friend’s new pistol to take to the range and test out before I buy one of my own; that would be a criminal act. Nor would I be able to lend my father-in-law a shotgun so that he could go shoot trap with his church group; that would be a criminal act. Why would I make such specific examples of what would be illegal under I-594? Those sorts of simple examples I gave are simple actions that many responsible firearms owners do regularly, and now they would be criminal. It’s already illegal to sell to a felon or anyone you even think may not be able to own a firearm. If I-594 is passed, it won’t bother criminals at all, they will still get firearms from black markets and through theft, but it will really bother those law0abiding citizens who enjoy even the simplest things like target shooting and introducing their friends to the same.

Why is I-591 better? I-591 says that WA State’s background check system will continue to be in line with the ATF’s regulations, the law at a federal/national level. The means background checks are still required for all firearms sales by dealers. It also means that law-abiding gun owners won’t be criminalized for typical recreational activities with firearms. I-591 also restates that confiscating firearms from a citizen by any government agency without due process is illegal. Is this already unlawful? Yes it is. It has been demonstrated, though, that in some states where initiatives like I-594 have passed (California for example) that the increased government oversight on law abiding citizens’ activities has created scenarios where firearms have been confiscated without due process.

“All dressed up and nowhere to go” was the comment our IT guy, Jay Christopherson, sent with this photo. This is Jay’s testing set-up at his home range, complete with PVM-21 chronograph and wireless target-cam. The camera signal is sent, via WiFi, to Jay’s laptop computer. However, even with all that high-tech electronic gear, you can’t make the shot if you can’t see the target through the rifle-scope. On this morning, heavy ground fog completely obscured the target. Jay told us: “I ended up waiting a little over an hour for the fog to burn off enough so that I could see the 600-yard target. What was funny was that I had a perfectly clear picture of the target via the target-cam and monitor. But there was no way to aim the rifle since the riflescope showed nothing but fog.”

This photo was taken by Jay at the Cascade Shooting Facility in Ravensdale, WA. The rifle is Jay’s .284 Shehane F-Class rifle. Jay was testing primers for Extreme Spread (ES) variation around 9:00 am. Nature was not cooperating. Jay was running Hodgdon H4831sc and testing various primers to see which provided the best numbers.

The chronograph is the Kurzzheit PVM-21. Equipped with infrared sensors, the PVM-21 is our “go-to” chron for most velocity testing, with an Oehler 35P for “back-up”. The PVM-21 (now updated with Kurzzheit’s BMC-19 model) sets up quickly and gives reliable results in any light conditions. But there is something even more sophisticated on the horizon — the new Labradar, a “stand-off” chronograph that uses Doppler radar to measure bullet speed.

Jay explains: “I am (somewhat) patiently waiting for the new Labradar to release. The PVM-21 works pretty well most of the time and is easy to setup. I do get odd readings out of it every so often, but they are pretty obvious when they occur.” The advantage of the Labradar (if it ever comes to market) is that the unit sits to the left or right of the rifle. The Labradar is situated out of the bullet path, so there is no chance of shooting the chronograph by accident. Another advantage of the Labradar is that you can set it up without needing to go forward of the firing line, which would require a safety break.

The U.S Supreme Court has declined to review two cases involving handguns and young adults in the 18 to 20 year-old age bracket. The first case, NRA v. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, challenged a 1968 law which prohibits FFLs from selling handguns to any person under 21 (including adults 18, 19, and 20 years of age). Arguing that the Second Amendment protects all adult citizens, Petitioners argued that restrictions should be lifted for legal adults over 18 but under 21 years of age. The other case, NRA v. McCraw, sought to over-turn various Texas laws that prevent 18 to 20 year-olds from getting a handgun carry license.

Gun-rights activists have been pressing the nation’s highest court to accept the cases. Those advocates have cited various courts’ resistance to expanding gun ownership rights following the Supreme Court’s decision in 2008 in the Heller case that there is a Constitutional right to gun ownership for self-defense and in 2010 in the McDonald case that found the right applies to state and local gun-control efforts.

The Supreme Court refused on [February 24, 2014], as it has done repeatedly in recent years, to settle the issue of whether Second Amendment rights to have a gun extend beyond the home. Since the Court first ruled nearly six years ago that the Second Amendment protects a personal right to have a gun, it has issued only one further ruling — expanding that right so that it applies nationwide, to state and local gun control laws, as well as to federal laws. But, without exception, the Justices have turned aside every potential sequel, essentially leaving it to lower courts to continue to sort out variations on the right.

One thing seemed clear from the denial of review of two of the new cases, the NRA’s challenges: the Court is not, as yet, ready to stop lower courts from creating an entirely new group in society with less than full gun rights. In those cases, it was youths aged eighteen to twenty years old.

A recent scientific discovery in Washington State suggests that North America once harbored large colonies of giant, man-sized rodents — distant cousins to today’s prairie dogs. Earlier this month, while searching for dinosaur fossils, a field team of Yale University paleontologists uncovered a startling find — the skull of a massive prehistoric rodent, along with other skeletal remains.

The skull, nearly the size of a horse’s head, is almost identical in form to the skull of a modern-era prairie dog, though it is is more than 50 times as large. Apparently today’s Black-Tailed Prairie Dogs had some very large predecessors. Based on the size of the skull and other bones, scientists estimate that the giant prairie dogs could stand up to 7′ tall and weigh up to 350 pounds. In other words, this critter was man-sized. The giant rodents lived much like modern prairie dogs do today — grazing on vegetation and nesting underground in burrows. The giant skull was unearthed in Washington’s Mima Mounds Natural Area Preserve. View More: Mima Mounds Aerial photo.

Mystery of Mima Mounds Finally Solved
Southwest of Seattle, near Littlerock, Washington, you’ll find the Mima Mounds, a vast field of clustered earthen mounds covering over 600 acres. Since their discovery (by whites) in the 18th century, the Mima Mounds have confounded scientific explanation — until now that is. The location of the giant prairie dog skull and bones inside one of the Mima Mounds indicates, with great certainty, that the mound field was created by a large colony of giant burrowing rodents. Scientists now believe that the Mima Mounds area is a prehistoric prairie dog field, created by the creatures scientists have nicknamed “Big Dogs”.

NW Indian Legends Spoke of Giant Prairie Dogs
The presence of the giant prairie dogs at Mima Mounds is confirmed by Northwestern Indian legends describing a giant burrowing beast that stood as tall as a man, when raised on its hind legs. Researchers, who transcribed oral histories of the Sauk-Suiattle tribe, have recorded numerous references to a large, man-sized creature that burrowed underground. In the Suiattle language the beast was called “Chok-lahtle-wachook”, which, literally translated, means “Standing Man-Mouse”. A number of ancient Indian carvings and artifacts have depicted this creature (see photo at right), but cultural historians had not understood their significance. For decades the historians presumed Chok-lahtle-wachook was a wholly fictional man-beast, not a real species. Such mythical hybrid creatures are commonly revered as important totemic spirits by many Native American cultures. However, it now appears that Chok-lahtle-wachook really existed, and did so in great numbers.

Can Science Revive the Giant Prairie Dog?
The discovery of the giant prairie dog has electrified the scientific community because it appears that bone samples may contain recoverable DNA. And that means — you guessed it — there is a small chance that Chok-lahtle-wachook could be cloned. Geneticist Amy Moorwall of the Univ. of Washington explains: “These are not 100-million-year-old dinosaur bones. This creature lived in relatively recent times, so there is much more genetic material remaining that hasn’t completely fossilized. Initial inspection of bone marrow samples suggest that there may be viable, complete DNA strands that could be recovered. If that’s true, this could be one of our first opportunities to revive an extinct species.”

Varmint Hunters Hope for Successful Cloning
Could Chok-lahtle-wachook once again stand tall upon America’s prairies through the application of modern genetic cloning technology? If so, that would be exciting news for the nation’s hunting community. Varmint hunting is hugely popular in North America, and the possibility of bagging a man-sized prairie dog would be a dream come true for avid varminters. Ryan Stanley of the Varmint Hunters’ Association (VHA) told us that his members hope that the giant prairie dog could be cloned successfully: “The VHA would definitely support a cloning effort. I bet we could raise the money to do it. Many of our members spend countless days, over many seasons, trying to earn a 1000-yard patch, signifying a confirmed varmint kill at 1000 yards. Getting that patch, for a varminter, is like a baseball player making it into Cooperstown. Needless to say, if VHA members have a chance to shoot at a 7-foot-tall, 300-pound varmint, instead of a puny little prairie dog, many more of our members will finally earn their 1000-yard patch.”

At a Capitol Hill breakfast briefing today, the National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF) released a newly commissioned report detailing the significant economic impact the firearms and ammunition industry has on the nation’s and each state’s economy. The numbers were impressive. Overall, the firearms industry had an economic impact of $27.8 BILLION dollars in 2009. The firearms industry generated $8.2 Billion in workers’ wages and $4.4 Billion in tax revenues. “During difficult economic times and high unemployment rates nationally, our industry actually grew and created 16,800 new, well-paying jobs,” said NSSF President Steve Sanetti. “Our industry is proud to be one of the bright spots in this economy.”

The economic growth America’s firearms and ammunition industry experienced last year was driven by an unprecedented number of Americans choosing to exercise their fundamental right to keep and bear arms and purchase a firearm and ammunition. Also cited in the Economic Impact Report were the significant taxes paid by industry member companies to federal and state governments and the Pittman-Robertson excise tax — a major source of wildlife conservation funding in America. “In 2009 our industry increased its contribution to wildlife conservation by over 37.6 percent, which translates into sportsmen contributing more than $7.5 million dollars daily to conservation efforts,” said NSSF General Counsel Lawrence G. Keane.

Today, April 19th, is “Patriot’s Day”, the anniversary of the “Shot heard ’round the world.” Earlier today, in Washington, DC, supporters of Second Amendment gun rights rallied near the Washington Monument. Those dedicated rally attendees came from all parts of the country to demonstrate their support for the individual right to keep and bear arms. The DC rally, along with companion demonstrations in state capitols nationwide, drew the attention of the national print and television media. The reporters recorded plenty of stirring speeches on the subject of gun control and individual rights. Perhaps the TV cameras were seeking greater drama — but there were no fights, no violence, no guns fired into the air.

Those who attended the main DC rally were estimated at a “few hundred” to “as many as 2,000″ (Washington Post). Perhaps the rally could have drawn more attendees, but the landmark U.S. Supreme Court case of Heller v. D.C., which recognized an individual right to “keep and bear” arms, may have created a sense of complacency among firearms owners. Indeed, the Washington Post News Blog observed: “The March comes at a time when the trend appears to be toward normalizing carrying of firearms in public. Even before the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2008 decision in [Heller] recognized an individual’s constitutional right to possess firearms, an increasing number of states have allowed citizens to carry guns openly or conceal them on their person. Last year, 24 states loosened restrictions in firearms laws, and Iowa and Arizona passed laws this year easing restrictions on gun possession.”

Here’s good news for Washington State gun owners. A King County Superior Court judge has struck down a ban on guns in Seattle city parks because it violates Washington State’s long-standing preemption statute. Judge Catherine Shaffer ruled from the bench that the gun ban, adopted under former Mayor Greg Nickels, violates Washington’s law, which placed sole authority for regulating firearms in the hands of the State Legislature. That law was adopted in 1983 and amended in 1985, and has served as a model for similar laws across the country.

The lawsuit was litigated by the Second Amendment Foundation and National Rifle Association on behalf of five individual plaintiffs. “This is a great victory for the rule of law and Washington citizens,” said SAF Executive Vice President Alan M. Gottlieb, who added: “This case affirms the intent of lawmakers in 1983 to prevent cities like Seattle from creating a nightmare patchwork of conflicting and confusing firearms regulations.”

Gottlieb suggested a review of local ordinances may now be in order, so that city and county governments can be compelled to remove old gun regulations or face legal consequences. “This ruling puts anti-gun local officials on notice that legally-armed citizens have rights, too,” Gottlieb stated.

Founded in 1974, the 650,000-member strong Second Amendment Foundation (www.saf.org) is the nation’s oldest and largest tax-exempt education and legal action group dedicated to the Constitutional right to privately own and possess firearms.